2023 DigiMarCon, New York

By Katya Mikulich

DigiMarCon is one of the most extensive global digital marketing, media, and advertising conference series, with over 40 events annually across 18 countries. It attracts passionate marketers and forward-thinking thought leaders worldwide to gain insights into the latest industry trends and develop their marketing strategies. This unique event covers a broad range of areas and has something to offer to any company looking to innovate and grow its business.

The 6th annual New York conference, held on April 27th and 28th, was no exception. The agenda included a diverse list of topics – e-commerce trends, brand marketing, martech stack, SEO, influencer marketing, and, of course, all things AI. We want to highlight several themes that emerged over two sessions and panel discussions.

Brand Marketing: Focus on Connection Will Get Brands Ahead

Society is still reeling from the pandemic, when many individuals paused to look inward, re-emerging as intentional and selective consumers. “Resetters” is the term used by Georgie Coupe, Associate Brand Director at Bumble, for people whose mindsets underwent a significant shift and who now seek intentionality. Today’s consumers expect more from the brands they transact with. They crave a holistic relationship and a degree of personal connection. Companies are seeing more success with ads that evoke strong emotions and create a positive association with the brand. As Petra Hailu, Sr. Content Solutions Consultant at LinkedIn, says, “Emotional ads are hard to forget.”

There is also a stronger emphasis on building brand equity through a passionate community. This is where Umbraco, an open-source software company, found success and a path to profitability around a free-to-use product. As their Director of Developer Relations Emma Burstow framed it, leading with community changed their customers’ relationship with the brand from “priced to priceless.”

Several keynote speakers talked about the popularity of video as the leading format for grabbing attention, with 16x times the engagement compared to static content. The new hot trend on LinkedIn is micro-form brand videos, which drive a 28% lift in view rates. Many organizations turn to videos to humanize and personalize their brand, create non-business experiences, and share behind-the-scenes content. Like influencers who found success inviting audiences to their home, brands are learning that being a bit personal or imperfect stops the scroll.

E-commerce Trends: From Shifts in Platforms for Product Discovery to Payment Flexibilities

Social shopping continues to speed up, with more product discovery and purchase impulses occurring while scrolling the feed. The social commerce opportunity is expected to nearly triple by 2025 though there are some generational differences. While millennials will account for 1/3 of social commerce spending by then, Gen Z spending is expected to grow the fastest.

Another trend e-retailers need to pay attention to is the shift in preferred forms of digital payment. Virtual credit cards and wallets, blockchain technologies, Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) for B2B, and variable recurring payments will allow consumers better flexibility, reshaping their preferences toward greater convenience and security.

And, of course, AI will be vital in moving the e-commerce industry forward. The online shopping experience will be elevated to a whole new level as e-retailers harness the power of AI to learn habits, anticipate needs, and deliver personalized and predictive ads. AI solutions can automate manual tasks such as creating thousands of product descriptions and streamlining business operations.

With the growing role of e-commerce advertising, brand marketers need to carve out a suitable space for it in their omnichannel strategy. Allison Lewis, Head of Commerce & Growth Marketing at OMD USA, says it well: “As the Retail Media space becomes more saturated, it is important that we understand the nuances of each retailer to recommend the best approach for each of our clients. Not all retailers are created equal. Considering traffic, audience, platform capabilities, and reporting, we can customize our retailers and strategy.”

Influencer Marketing: No Slowdown in Sight for the Creator Economy 

The rapidly growing influencer marketing sector is seeing some exciting trends, as shared at the event by Ryan Schram, president, and COO of IZEA.

Per IZEA’s survey, 50% of respondents said they had purchased a product after seeing it used by an influencer. And 62% indicated they are more likely to trust a sponsored post from an influencer over an A-List celebrity. The creator economy, currently estimated at USD 106 billion, is expected to double by 2026. At the same time, many brands work with dozens, if not hundreds, of influencers; there has been a shift from one-off to long-term partnerships, where creators become brand ambassadors and go-to sources for information about the brand and its products.

AI-Based Technology: Growing Adoption but the Speed Varies

Nearly every discussion touched on artificial intelligence and the fast-evolving field of AI-powered technology. Access to generative AI signified a fundamental technological shift already giving rise to new businesses and tools. There was a noticeable difference in how speakers approached the topic of AI depending on the company they represented. Small businesses and startups appear more agile in adopting the novel technology, boasting successful use of AI-powered tools such as content builders to produce cost-effective, specialized content at scale. Panelists from large global organizations spoke with more caution. Jennifer Grazel Rubio, Chief Marketing Officer at RBC, stressed the importance of rolling out AI solutions responsibly. Internal socialization, educating key business decision-makers, and working with regulatory bodies is critical for ensuring no line is crossed. The challenge most companies face today is balancing the barely tapped potency of AI with ethical use.

Marketing Tech Stack: Less is More with the Right Approach

“Navigating the Martech Jungle” was an interesting take on the challenge many CMOs face – having more technology than they know what to do with yet not getting the expected results. Tom Hannigan Jr. from HCL Unica talked about overinvestment in tools, poor integration of siloed platforms, and lacking campaign execution standards. Enterprise companies, on average, have 120+ martech solutions in their stack, but a practical, centralized data strategy remains out of reach. Tom argued that fixing tagging, focusing on your “core four” foundational technologies, thinking of personalization as a system of patterns, and asking “Will it scale?” at the end of each tech demo will help improve utilization of the martech solutions.

SEO: Organic + Paid Incrementality and Pillar-Based Marketing

Last but not least, SEO got a lot of love at DigiMarCon, and for a good reason. With the increasingly cluttered search space, especially now that creating content has become more accessible and cheaper, 90.6% of web pages get zero traffic. Brands need the help of search engine optimization experts to elevate their presence in Google. The SEO case studies presented at the event touched on two critical areas – SEO/SEM integration and creating winning content. We often get questions from brands about search incrementality, and it was good to get validation from the numerous studies presented that paid and organic search, when working together, capture a significantly higher volume of clicks.

And re-enforcing the SEO strategy with pillar-based content gives brands a real advantage over the competition. The formula is straightforward: build a content hub that combines a topic overview or “pillar” page with multiple sub-topic clusters – earn topical authority and search rankings for your brand.

This growing trend in content marketing signals a strategic shift. Instead of producing random articles to cast a wide net, brands move toward a more deliberate content creation and organizational framework that positions them as subject matter experts and boosts their presence in search.

In Summary

DigiMarCon New York brought to light many trends rapidly reshaping the industry. But more than anything, it reminded us of the power of human connection and how human connectivity can bring down the walls between businesses and customers. As the publisher and motivational speaker, Ramon Ray said, “Ask for a smile before you ask for a sale.”

Customers want to see humans behind the business. Empathy, humanizing your brand voice, showing your customer that you understand their pain points, and good-natured humor – brands embracing marketing campaigns that foster emotional connection will find better resonance with today’s mindful consumers.

Reporter

Katya Mikulich

Head Of Organic Search at OMD USA